Sun Valley Suns 0 3 2 5
Jackson Hole Moose 0 2 1 3
FIRST PERIOD—No scoring.
SECOND PERIOD—(1) Moose, Dustin Stolp (Nick Dolentz, Tyler Woodisse), 3:22, power play goal. (2) SV, Adam Swain 6 (Jon Duval, Ryan McDonald), 6:33. (3) SV, Duval 3 (McDonald, Swain), 13:44. (4) Moose, Gregg Gripentrog (Stolp, Woodisse), 14:42. (5) SV, McDonald 5 (unassisted), 17:22, power play goal.
THIRD PERIOD—(6) Moose, Dolentz (Bryan Hannafin, Sean Hannafin), 6:40. (7) SV, Jami James 1 (Duval, John Stevens), 15:05, game-winning goal. (8) SV, Jamie Ellison 4 (Swain), 19:39, empty net goal.
SHOTS ON GOAL—Sun Valley 10-9-12 for 31; Jackson Hole 8-11-10 for 29.
GOALIES—SV, Ryan Thomson (25 saves, 5-0-0 record); Jackson Hole, Ryan Fredericks (27 saves).
OFFICIALS—Referee, Mike McGarrah; linesmen, Jack Johnson and Doug Henderson.
NOTES—Nearly 1,000 fans packed into Snow King Center for the game, and Saturday's crowd was nearly as large....Suns forward lines were Blake Jenson-Ryan McDonald-Adam Swain/Jon Duval, Ryan Enrico-Jamie Ellison-Vilnis Nikolaisons, John Stevens-Billy Tryder-Jon Duval/Charles Friedman. The five rotating defensemen were Chris Warrington, Jami James, Trevor Thomas, Jeremy Schreiber in his first Suns start and Paul Baranzelli.....Jenson took a diabolical puck between his eyes midway through the first period and needed about 20 stitches in a T-pattern down his nose from Dr. Frank Batcha. Suns co-leading scorer Jenson came out of the locker room with about two minutes left in the second period and took a regular shift in the third. Jon Duval took his place in the middle of the game. Jenson hadn't been wearing an eye shield before the injury, but he wore one Saturday night... To bolster the defense, Suns coach Chris Benson welcomed 6-0, 200-pound blueliner Jeremy Schreiber of Medicine Hat, Alberta for the Moose series. Schreiber, 25, was an outstanding defenseman for the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers from 2002-06, recording 21 goals and 86 points in 128 games over four seasons. He was a three-time first-team selection on College Hockey America (CHA) post-season All-Star teams and played minor league hockey this fall for the Charlotte Checkers. He gave the Suns a very solid stay-at-home presence on the blue line, positioning himself well for nearly every Moose foray into the zone.
Coach Benson said about Schreiber, "What an addition! He's calm and level-headed out there. And he made a huge hit on the little Hannafin."....Moose forward lines were Josh Theken-Gregg Gripentrog-Sean Murray, Nick Dolentz-Bryan Hannafin-Sean Hannafin, John Frechette-Dustin Stolp/T.J. Thomas-Jeff Zelazoski. Defensemen were Chris DeMarco-captain Aaron Ackley, Canadian Tyler Woodisse-Jon Bradford, Aaron Hamby-Lee Cooper. Woodisse is a Moose newcomer who played a big role for the Brampton Capitals Junior A Hockey Club......Coach Benson felt that Jackson Hole should have been assessed a too many men penalty on the second Moose goal, scored by Minnesotan and Moose veteran Gripentrog for a 2-2 game. "It was questionable. Looked like too many men. Chipsy looked back and there was nobody there," said Benson.....There were several strange goals tonight. After brilliant shots by Adam Swain and Ryan McDonald, and two brilliant saves by Moose netminder Ryan Fredericks from Minnesota, Jon Duval found himself with an open net for a 2-1 lead. McDonald had the last laugh when he poked home the third goal for a 3-2 Suns lead—after Fredericks made an initial save and just dropped the puck thinking the whistle had blown. It hadn't, which referee Mike McGarrah spent a long time explaining to the incredulous Moose and Fredericks. Suns defenseman Jami James made an excellent defensive play at the other end, just prior to McDonald's goal....."Good period, boys, good frigging period," Suns captain Chris Warrington shouted to his teammates entering the locker room for the second intermission....Tonight's game was very similar to last February's 5-3 Suns Friday night victory over the host Moose, right down to the empty net goal at the finish. Ryan McDonald had a 3-goal hat trick and the game winner in that one.....An argument could be made that the Suns took a stronger team to Jackson Hole this year than they did last year, when Ryan Enrico, Jamie Ellison, John Stevens and goalie Ryan Thomson (knee) didn't play and the Moose outshot the Suns 73-50 for the weekend. But the Suns never trailed in last year's sweep.......John Stevens retrieved the puck scored by Jami James for the game-winning goal. "What a good way to get your first goal for the Suns, a GWG (game-winning goal). Sure, I went and got it for Jami. He came flying in and was ready for the pass.".....James was very proud to be the winning factor. He said afterwards, "I was in a little slump. It's been a big adjustment for me (coming to Sun Valley), but a lot of people have rallied around me and helped me make good choices. Hopefully I won't make as many mistakes."....A major thorn in the Suns side over the years, Joe Casey, 31, of Bismarck, N.D. wasn't playing for the Moose last weekend because he signed a professional contract last September with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the Central Hockey League, based out of Hidalgo, Texas near the Mexican border. A University of Denver skater from 1996-2000, the 5-8, 185-pound Casey led the Moose in scoring for all six seasons he played in Jackson Hole through 2006. Casey has 3 goals and 4 assists in 27 games for Rio Grande (13-17-5), which currently stands in fourth/last place in the CHL Central Division......Suns goalie Thomson had a laundry list of great saves, particularly in the final two periods. Early in the third, he stopped Sean Hannafin's attempt on a bouncing puck, then he robbed Hannafin's breakaway with his leg midway through the third in a 3-3 tie game. Nick Dolentz tipped a Tyler Woodisse shot from the point with seven minutes left, but Thomson was there. Fifteen seconds later Thomson stopped a Bryan Hannafin backhander.
SUNS 5, MOOSE 4
SATURday, JAN. 13
Sun Valley Suns 2 1 2 5
Jackson Hole Moose 1 2 1 4
FIRST PERIOD—(1) SV, Adam Swain 7 (Ryan McDonald, Blake Jenson), 1:39. (2) Moose, Josh Theken (Gregg Gripentrog), 17:11. (3) SV, Trevor Thomas 2 (Jami James, Jamie Ellison), 18:44.
SECOND PERIOD—(4) SV, Jenson 3 (McDonald, Swain), 6:49, power play goal. (5) Moose, Sean Hannafin (Chris DeMarco), 14:53, power play goal. (6) Moose, Gripentrog (Spencer Morton), 19:52, power play goal.
THIRD PERIOD—(7) Moose, Gripentrog (DeMarco), 4:04. (8) SV, Jamie Ellison 5 (Chris Warrington, Paul Baranzelli), 6:41, power play goal. (9) SV, Ellison 6 (Warrington, Ryan Enrico), 13:04, power play and game-winning goal.
SHOTS ON GOAL—Sun Valley 6-12-5 for 23; Jackson Hole 12-5-7 for 24.
GOALIES—SV, Colin Zulianello (20 saves, 5-0-0 record); Jackson Hole, Ryan Fredericks (18 saves).
OFFICIALS—Referee, Jack Johnson; linesmen, Mike McGarrah and Doug Henderson.
NOTES—A couple of penalties figured in the final two Suns goals. With the Suns trailing 4-3, Vilnis Nikolaisons took a cross-ice pass from Jami James and drew a hooking penalty that put the Suns on the power play. With five seconds left on the power play, Chris Warrington spotted Jamie Ellison and made a fine pass from the left point to the right corner of the net that Ellison converted for the equalizer. Then, Jackson Hole's rangy Dustin Stolp and Suns rookie Jon Duval started jawing in the Suns defensive zone. They met again behind the Moose net when Duval was assessed with a holding penalty. Stolp just went off on Duval, battering the Suns player and finally getting the gate, ejected for fighting. On his way off the ice to the locker room, Stolp removed his helmet and fired it towards the Suns bench, hitting the side boards. Suns coach Chris Benson used the helmet-throwing incident as a bargaining chip to remove Duval's holding penalty and give the Suns a five-minute power play. And towards the end of the major, Warrington found Ellison again on a nearly identical passing play for the eventual game winner.....It was fortunate that the Suns scored on the five-minute power play because Benson said he ran his top two forward lines pretty hard during the critical man advantage situation and the Suns power play wasn't very effective.....The Moose didn't help their cause when Josh Theken drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with 2:26 left and his team trailing 5-4. Shorthanded, the Moose couldn't get goalie Ryan Fredericks off the ice in favor of an extra attacker until there were 20 seconds left. They earned a faceoff in the circle to the right of Suns goalie Colin Zulianello with 16 seconds left. During the time out, Benson told his players (1) don't lose the draw, and (2) man up and if you have to, take the long way around to get the puck out of the zone....The Suns were 4-for-14 on the power play for the weekend and Jackson Hole was 3-for-11. For the season the Suns are 20-for-65 (31%) on the power play compared to 9-for-77 (12%) for opponents...Sun Valley outpointed the Moose 27-17 on the weekend scoresheet chiefly because the Suns had 17 assists, which equaled the Moose total in points....Gregg Gripentrog topped the Moose with 3 goals and 1 assist for 4 weekend points......Weekend penalty minutes were Sun Valley 32 and Jackson Hole 39.... Tonight's Suns lines were Blake Jenson-Ryan McDonald-Adam Swain, Ryan Enrico-Jamie Ellison-Vilnis Nikolaisons, John Stevens-Billy Tryder-Jon Duval, with Charles Friedman filling in....Leading the Suns weekend scoring parade with 5 points apiece were Adam Swain (2-3) and Ryan McDonald (1-4). McDonald's forward line accounted for 15 of the 27 Suns weekend points......Fourth-year Suns wing Ryan Enrico (45 goals, 55 assists for 100 points) reached the career century mark.....Assistant coach for the Moose was Bryan Korpi, who scored 88 goals and 116 assists for 204 points in his 10-year Suns career.......Vilnis Nikolaisons (131-213 for 344 points) and Jamie Ellison (126-216 for 342) are neck in neck, both with a reasonable chance of overtaking Glenn Hunter (362) this season for second place on the all-time Suns scoring list..... This weekend's George Jacket went to Sun Valley Junior Hockey product Trevor Thomas. Besides scoring the go-ahead goal on a shot from the point with 1:16 left in the first period, Thomas notoriously forgot his jersey, so he borrowed Chris Benson's #81 jersey for the games.....Suns goalie Colin Zulianello got a little feisty and drew an interference penalty early in the third period, which got the Moose fans going. But Zulianello also made some fine saves, especially on Chris DeMarco's point blank power play attempt from 16 feet with eight minutes left in the second and the Suns still leading 3-1......A surprise guest tonight was former Suns Foundation Inc. president John "Cub" Burke, who re-routed his flight from Palm Springs to the Jackson Hole airport in order to see a Suns game at Snow King Center for the first time. Coach Benson picked him up at the airport and they arrived shortly before the game. He acted as assistant coach with John Ellison Sr. and entertained the happy Suns players at the post-game party with stories about the olden days.
